Imagine this: Youâre leaving work, walking to your car, and you find an empty parking spot â someone stole your brand new Tesla (or whatever fancy autonomous car youâre driving). When you call the police, they ask your permission for a âtakeover,â which you promptly give them. Next thing you know, your car is driving itself to the nearest police station. And hereâs the kicker â if the thief is inside he will remain locked inside until police can arrest them.

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This futuristic and almost slapstick scenario is closer than we think, says Chief Innovation Officer Hans SchÃ¶nfeld who works for the Dutch police. Currently, his team has already done several experiments to test the crime-halting possibilities of autonomous cars.

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âWe wanted to know if we can make them stop or drive them to certain locations,â SchÃ¶nfeld tells me. âAnd the result is: yes, we probably can.â

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âThe police tested several cars; Tesla, Audi, Mercedes, and Toyota,â he continues. âWe do this in collaboration with these car companies because this information is valuable to them, too. If we can hack into their cars, others can as well.â